Verizon on Tuesday said it will now begin offering consulting services
for enterprise customers looking for help managing, monitoring and
maintaining their cloud-based applications.

Company officials said the Verizon Cloud Computing Program will offer a
flexible, vendor-neutral approach for managing homegrown applications, apps
hosted by a third party or those running from an existing Verizon
datacenter.

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) promises to create a secure cloud-computing
environment that incorporates a five-tiered process focusing on assessing,
designing, migrating, managing and securing applications and datacenters in
the cloud.

The timing -- considering all the hype surrounding cloud computing -- is
ideal for Verizon as it looks for new revenue streams beyond its core
wireless and Internet business.

"It is now clear that cloud computing is part of the future of IT," said
Joe Crawford, Verizon's executive director of IT solutions and hosting
product management. "While many businesses recognize the many benefits
associated with cloud computing, concerns still persist over security,
performance and governance."

Worldwide cloud services revenue is on pace to surpass $56.3 billion in
2009, a 21 percent increase from 2008 revenue of $46.4 billion, according to
Gartner. The market is expected to reach $150.1 billion in 2013.

"Cloud computing is a broad and diverse phenomenon," said Gartner analyst Ben Pring. "Much of the
growth represents a transfer of traditional IT services to the new cloud
model, but there is also scope for creation of substantial new businesses
and revenue streams."

IBM, Google, Amazon, Microsoft as well as traditional business software
vendors like SAP and Oracle continue to make heavy investments in cloud computing, either
developing new service offerings themselves or acquiring smaller cloud
specialists.

Business processes delivered as a service -- e-commerce, HR and
advertising -- represents 83 percent of this burgeoning market and is
projected to grow another 20 percent to more than $47 billion this year.

"With our market-leading IT capabilities and experience from building and
deploying our flagship cloud offering, Verizon Business is well-positioned
to advise enterprises on their cloud computing strategy," Crawford added.